THE CORNER OF NO AND WHERE
by Clockwork-hart1
Summary: "The girl's been crying for some time now but she keeps pushing us away. She only wants to talk to the Captain." Set post 'Objects in Space' but pre movie. Ever wondered why, after River presented herself as a risk to everyone aboard, Mal refused to leave Simon and River to fend for themselves in the big bad Verse? This is how I think he came to that decision. It's about home.


Family /noun/:

a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group.

a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for.

"Another week without daylight, Mal?" Inara opened one carefully made-up eye to see the intrepid Captain disrespecting her privacy and invading her shuttle. Again. When we met you ensured my privacy. I don't know who was stupider, you for lying or me for believing you. The shuttle was warm and the embodiment of indulgence, much like the Companion that called it home, all sensuous gold and passionate scarlet, seen through the spicy, wafting smoke of incense. And Malcolm Reynolds was ruining the mystique. She unfolded herself from the intricate spun cotton rug she was reclining on in meditation. Stupid man. She got to her feet, walking towards Mal in an attempt to usher him out of her peaceful living space. He was having none of it.

"Well, I'm sorry Inara, if the safest way to get where we're headed doesn't meet your fancy specifications." He picked up one of the Companion's delicate embroidered cushions, pointless ,foofy thing. He stroked the silken cover, feels nice though. He shook his head and threw it back onto the bed, then turned to look out of the shuttle's windscreen, examining the vast blackness before him.

She eyed the Captain wearily, trying to hide her amusement at his bewilderment at the hands of her cushions, it was rather cute, really, the way his big blue eyes crinkled up and mouth twisted into a pout. "And where exactly are we going, the edge of space?" Her pleasant voice just shy of mocking.

"No. It's, um, someplace with daylight." Ever the quick thinker, real smart, Mal. He turned to face the Companion. Half the time he wasn't sure if it was her "feminine wiles" that made him feel stupid or just because she was so damn pretty.

"Oh very helpful. How am I supposed to make a living like this? Floating in nowhere to get to nowhere else."

When all else fails, just strike where it hurts. Insult her. "Get a respectable job, maybe? Look 'Nara, You got business, I'll drop you there, but don't you be telling me how to run my ship."

She pretended to be offended. He knew as well as she did that besides maybe the unorthodox Shepherd, she had the only thing resembling a respectable job on the Ship. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good, then I won't tell you how to whore yourself." Too far Mal, you _yu bun duh hwun dan_!

Inara tried to remind herself of the Mal who defended her honour against Atherton, sword in hand, at the risk of his own life (despite the fact that she was more than capable of looking after herself—she was the better fencer of the two at any rate), the one she was more than a little smitten with, and tried to forget the bastard that had just called her a whore. Again. "No work, insults? Give me one more reason to leave, I dare you." The forgetting wasn't going so well. Mal, come on, give me a reason to stay.

He cast his eyes down. "Maybe it would be better you did."

"What?" She was incredulous.

"Well, with Simon and River on board, we're always gonna be in danger. Maybe it's safer for you to not be here." Even after all of his insults, his crap, Mal cared about Inara, more than he'd ever say aloud. If she were out of danger, he would sleep easier at night.

She looked him dead in the eye. "I'm a big girl, Mal. I don't need to be told what I can and can't do with my life. Especially not by you—"

"Mal!" Came Wash's voice over the ship's PA system.

"Cap'n! Sir!" Came Zoe's far closer and far louder yell.

"What! Can't a man have a peaceful argument in the comfort of his own gorram ship?"

"It's River" Wash said again from the distance of Serenity's helm, just as Mal shot Inara a look that quite clearly said, "what'd I tell you?"

Instead of saying it, though, he smirked at her. "What'd the kid do, stab Jayne again? It was so amusing the last time." He smiled wider in reminiscence. Good times…

"No Sir", Zoe said, somewhat breathless as she stepped onto the shuttle. "She's crying."

"Oh." Malcolm Reynolds found himself confounded. "Can't Simon—"

"Doc's in surgery patching up Jayne after his run-in with the wrong end of Patience's gun. Besides, it's you she's calling for."

"Me? Why me?"

It took all both girls had to stop from busting into hysterics at the lost look on Mal's face. Put a gun to his head and he'll make a wisecrack but face him with a teenage girl in tears and the man's terrified.

"Beat's me Sir." Zoe was biting the inside of her cheek to stop from cackling in the Captain's face. Not that she couldn't take him. Zoe was taller than him and had taken down far scarier folk by his side. But that was the thing, she had always been with Mal, through the battle of Serenity Valley, through every bar brawl, through every disagreement he roped his sorry ass into, she'd fought by his side, and more often than not, she'd saved his ass. And she looked damn good doing it. "Kaylee and the Preacher are trying to calm her down in the hall outside the bunks. But like I say, it's you she's callin' for." She smiled over his shoulder to Inara.

"We'll be right there." The Companion supplied, her dark eyes catching the large chocolate orbs of the First Mate, amusement sparkling in both.

"We will? I mean we will. Zo, go tend to you're husband, he was soundin' awful panicky over the system." He gave her a sympathetic look, though the sympathy was more for his pilot. Zoe could be a scary woman when she wanted to, and may God rest Wash's soul if ever the two of them got into an argument. But they always seemed happy.

Zoe quirked an eyebrow, "don't need to tell me twice." She turned around, wild curls falling into disarray behind her as she went to find her husband. "Oh, and Sir, good luck with the kid." She heard a sharp laugh from Inara as she ran down Serenity's halls in search of Wash to calm him down the way only she could. She picked up one of the speakers that went directly to the helm, "Wash, get your sweet ass out here!"

And in reply, over the system, "coming dear."

Oh, you will be, Zoe thought, and smirked devilishly.

Inara stepped passed the Captain, expecting him to follow. "Aren't you coming? We can finish this discussion later." She smiled at him, perfect white teeth shining through sensual, crimson lips.

"Right. Yes. Um…"

"Oh come on!" She pulled him by the sleeve out of her shuttle and down the hallway in search of River.

They found the girl huddled on the couch outside the passenger dorms, Kaylee kneeling beside her, murmuring softly to her, Shepherd Book sitting beside her. "The girl's been crying for some time now but she keeps pushing us away. She only wants to talk to the Captain." Book smiled sympathetically at Mal who looked like a child lost in the woods.

Kaylee looked up. "Cap! Thank God, the poor girl's been hollerin' somethin' fierce. Said you can fix it." Kaylee was a beacon of eternal sunshine, something the crew found often irritating, but it was needed desperately when you faced all the death and destruction they did. None would admit it, but dear Kaylee with her teddy bear overalls and cheery demeanour was what kept them all going, and Mal had a feeling it was the only thing keeping them in the sky. The girl was like the ship whisperer. Greatest mechanic he ever did meet, and the youngest, and the prettiest.

He looked to Inara with panic. Now that he was here, he had no idea what he was meant to do to console the tiny little reader weeping on the couch.

River Tam was not like other kids. She was not only incredibly smart, but she was perceptive. She excelled in everything, from physics to music, spelling to dance and all she ever wanted was to be the best. Then she had demanded to be enrolled in 'The Academy', and the world had gone to hell. The Academy wasn't the highly desirable school it appeared. Rather it was a government facility that had cut into her brain over and over until the girl was so damaged she could barely get out a lucid sentence. But they had done something else, they had opened up her perception, and now she was a reader. She could hear things, see things that she shouldn't have been able to. And that was why, now that she had escaped—well, been broken out by her brother—she was a fugitive, wanted. If she knew things…

Mal approached the tiny figure as she lay crying, and sat down beside her. "Well River—"

"What the hell is going on?" Simon Tam had emerged from the medical bay to find half of the crew huddled around his weeping sister. "River, what's the matter?" The doctor ran to the couch his distressed sister was huddled on, an injured Jayne tailing behind him. "_Dah bien_!" He turned to face the assembled crew. "Why did none of you call me?" Simon gripped his sister's hand tightly and leaned down so that their foreheads touched. The affection between the siblings was palpable. "Shh, sweetie, it's okay." If the boy did nothing else, he cared for his sister.

River looked up into his eyes. She knew he must blame her for the way his life had turned out, a fugitive rather than the rich, brilliant doctor he was destined to be, too wrapped up in her and her problems to notice what was right in front of him. I'm sorry, Simon. I love you, that's why I have to do this.

"I wanted to get you", Mal supplied, helpfully. "But… I was told you were tending to dumbass over here." He turned to glare pointedly at Jayne, as did everyone else assembled.

Jayne paused; eyes wider than a deer's in headlights. Then, after a few moments of faltering, the cogs began to turn. "Yeah, well… I seem to recall you bein' on the receivin' end of one o' Patience's bullets, too. So don't you be givin' me crap! You know better than most that once her trigger finger gets an itch she can't help but scratch." He glanced around. "You all should be thankin' the Lord I'm still alive."

Inara cast an unamused look at the fallen gunslinger. "I'm not sure it's the Lord I would be thanking," she said tersely.

"You're right," Simon stood up and looked accusingly over the crew, "he should thank me. But right now I would like to know why my sister is crying and refusing to speak to me." He turned back, crouching alongside the small figure, "River?"

"No!" She shrieked, huddling closer into herself, folding her lithe body up as small as she could manage. I'm sorry, Simon, this has to be the way. I'll fix what I broke for you.

"Sorry Simon," Kaylee soothed, her voice as gentle as she could make it, "I heard her cryin' and tried to help, but she only wants to talk to the Cap'." Slowly, she placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, rubbing affectionately. She really did feel bad for him. River was the only thing the Doc had left from his old life, and she was the reason he had given it all up. No matter what Kaylee did to support him— and she was willing (the Doc was awful pretty)—if Simon lost his sister, he would be nothing.

"Really? Well Captain Reynolds, are you going to help her? Or just stand there, waiting for the sky to fall?" Simon was seething. The doctor was clearly on edge. Hell, he hadn't been this indignant since Jubal Early had tried to trade off River to the Feds for the bounty on the girl's perceptive little head. River had outsmarted him, but not before Simon got a few vocal jabs in.

Mal, never one to take criticism spoke up, voice gruff and eyes steely. He wasn't being insulted by some stick-up-his-ass doctor. "Hey! I will not be spoken to like that by my crew."

Simon wasn't done. "Oh, is that so? Well—"

"Too loud, everything is loud. Make it stop!" River exploded, reverting all else in the room to silence. She sat up and looked directly into the eyes of the Captain. "Mal."

"River?" Mal didn't know how to deal with teenagers, let alone half-crazed ones.

"Bad, in the Latin. River bad in reality."

"No sweetie," Simon attempted to soothe. "You're not bad."

She faced her brother; "Stop Simon! I'm bad, not safe. Not for you, or for them." She stopped, curling up again, eyes downcast in a bid to calm herself. "Let me talk to Mal alone, please."

Simon was stunned to silence. For a second River seemed, well, normal. Almost the way she had when they were kids back on Osiris, when she was his bratty —albeit incredibly intelligent—kid sister, and not at all like the neurological experiment 'The Academy' had turned her into. He looked down into her pleading eyes, then at the equally stunned faces of the assembled crew. He made up his mind. "We'll leave you alone then, won't we?" Then he, Kaylee and Book filed out, followed by Inara leading out Jayne by the ear.

"You just can't keep your hands off me, can ya 'Nara?" He said grinning as she yanked harder.

This just left a slightly frightened Mal alone with the damaged young girl. He chuckled softly, mostly from nerves, "So… What's all this crying for? Why in the 'Verse would you wanna talk to me? "

River uncurled slightly, turning to face the Captain. Her haunted eyes seared into him. "They will find me. Simon can't understand. When they hurt me, they made me bad, broken. Nothing is what it appears. Broken stars forged a weapon from a brain and Simon stole it, they want it back. But it's still theirs to pull the trigger. I'm still theirs. A danger. I don't wanna be. I want to leave. _Renzi de Shang Di, quing dai wa zho_."

"Hush, River." Mal resolved to just talk from the heart, it was the only way he knew. "Ain't no one gonna find you when you're on my crew, I won't let 'em. And you don't belong to no one but yourself, you remember that." He moved towards the doorway, but stopped and turned back to smile at River, who still looked a little distressed, "and River? Everyone on my ship's a danger, that's the way I like 'em."

As Mal departed, laughing slightly, he didn't hear River whisper softly, "you won't like me."

* * *

"Wash!" Mal yelled as he ventured through Serenity's hallways. But then he began to hear muffled moaning getting louder as he passed the Washburne's bunk, and Mal wasn't sure his pilot was in any position to be flying a ship at that moment in time.

Sure enough, his assumptions were proved correct as he heard Zoe's "he's a little busy now Sir!" before more moans ensued.

Goddammit! Sometimes it felt like everyone was getting some but him. He'd drop out and become a Shepard if he didn't think God was a load of go se. But now wasn't the time for that. "Kaylee!" He tapped his foot as he waited for the mechanic to join him in the cockpit. The she knew the ship better than anyone, he figured she would know where he was calling from.

"Yes, Cap?" She skipped through Serenity's halls towards him.

"Serenity, can you fly her?"

Kaylee's eyes widened for a moment. "Well, I can try—"

"Good enough. Set us back down on Whitefall. Turns out even after I shot all her men, Patience didn't learn her lesson."

The mechanic's eyes became joy-filled, like it was Christmas and her birthday all at once. "Sure thing, Cap." She turned tail and gleefully leapt into the pilot's seat, stopping only when Mal called her back.

"Hey, shiny! No funny business now. You land us and you get outta the driving seat, ain't your place. Got that?"

Kaylee made a face, "Yes Cap'n Tight Pants." She turned and pouted at him, watched him leave then let out a little yip of excitement as she sat back down and her hands closed around the wheel for the first time. I love my Captain. The cockpit was one of the few places on the ship that Kaylee hadn't "girlyfied" as Mal would have put it. It wasn't like the engine all warm and pretty, which was her element, her home; the place where Serenity told her her troubles. No, this place was Wash's station, complete with little plastic dinosaurs, and wasn't for her to play with. But whilst she was there, she was gonna enjoy every second of control she had of her precious ship.

Meanwhile, as Mal made his way to the dining room, he cursed to himself. Dammit, Wash had better teach me how to fly this thing for times like these. Serenity violently jerked, followed by Kaylee's sung "Sorry!" over the system.

"What in the Verse?" Jayne was sat at the dinner table, prodding at his stitches "OW!" His hand slipped as Serenity rocked.

"Careful son, you might tear something." Came Shepherd Book's amused though cool response to Jayne's pain as he sat down across from the wounded gunman, sliding a glass across the table. Jayne glanced suspiciously at him, but the Preacher just smiled. "Courage." He nodded to the drink.

Jayne looked at it, shrugged and took a gulp. Woah, strong stuff. "You know, you ain't like no Preacher I ever knew."

"Nor me." Mal entered the room, walking through a doorway complete with painted daisy chains adorning the frame. More of Kaylee's "girlyfying."

"And you never will", was the Shepherd's smiling response.

"What?" Jayne was confused. "You sayin' you're not a Preacher?" Jayne's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he dared to take another swig of the foul-smelling drink that Book had passed him. He liked the Shepherd, thought the guy was funny, but let's face it, he wasn't really Preacher material.

"Oh I'm a Shepherd", replied Book, "you just won't know me." He laughed at the blank look on Jayne's face as he tried to work that out and saw the Captain smiling amusedly at him. "Did you want something, Captain?"

"Just to tell Jayne to get his coat."

The Shepherd looked intrigued, "something I can help with?"

Mal smirked. "Appreciate the offer, Preacher, but unless you're in the habit of shootin' old ladies, I think you'd better sit this one out."

"Patience?" Jayne's eyes lit up with barely contained glee.

"Very same."

"Well, ain't that just shiny!" Jayne's grin looked like it might just break free from his face. "Thank the Lord, I've been dyin' to have that sour old _yao noo_ taste Vera's lead."

"I think you'd better re-read your Bible, Son, 'cause it wouldn't be the Lord I would thank." The Shepherd gave a small chuckle as he turned to leave the dining room, "I'll leave you boys to it." He let the door slide shut behind him as he made his way back to his bunk. He had almost told them, then, that he was done. He'd had enough adventures for now, seen enough of the 'Verse to sate his wanderlust, now it was time to return to Preaching. When he had first come aboard, being around so much killing and crime had widened the rift in his belief that had lead to him leaving the Abbey. But in time, it had done more to reaffirm his faith than to cement his crises. That, however, only meant that he would have to leave the stars behind. This was his last—though the final of many— colourful adventure. But that was a matter to break around the dinner table with everyone around and full of joy, not whilst two gunslingers prepared attack on an octogenarian. He picked up his Bible. Well, he may as well check what God had to say about shooting old women, just in case. There was always the kneecaps… He smiled, I dare say these criminals have corrupted me.

* * *

"You're a good girl, aren't you Serenity?" Kaylee dared to let one hand leave the wheel to caress the dash board. She was careful not to flick any switches or lean on any buttons, but she did knock off one of the dinosaurs. Sorry Wash, I'll pick it up when we land, I promise. The mechanic loved her ship more than anything, it was her baby, her pride, her joy. Only Kaylee could make her run when she was being tempestuous, only Kaylee could get her to fly when the engine was shot, and only Kaylee could hear her when she cried out. But she was more than a ship, Serenity was freedom, was what brought all the crew together. She was the tenth member of their precious little family, and she often begged and hollered worse than anyone else on board, a needy little creature, and Kaylee wouldn't want her any other way.

The ship was the prettiest in the 'Verse to Kaylee, despite the dented and lustreless exterior and mostly obsolete parts that only mattered when they broke. She had a heart that beat, a heart that burned brighter than any Sun and was more precious to all that rode her than gold. More nooks and crannies than even Mal knew what to do with, Serenity was a glorious mess and a very special girl. No ship had ever been more loved.

Kaylee pulled the ship on to the cliff that over-hung the valley where the Cap was planning on greeting Patience. That's it girl, nice and soft. Slowly she brought her down onto the rocks, come on. The ship jerked down, landing with a small thud. "Welcome to Whitefall."

* * *

"Did you feel that?" Zoe said, looking at her rather crumpled looking husband.

Wash smiled at her, leaning on one arm and rustling the already dishevelled bedclothes, revealing his pale but deceptively muscular torso to his wife. "No, I was faking that last time." She swatted him on the arm, her chocolate skin sharp contrast with his own creamy tanned complexion. They were an odd couple from the outside perspective, different as night and day, she was a soldier, he was goofball, but they complemented each other like no one else ever could.

"I meant the ship. Did we just land?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I know I'm good, but as I've been pretty busy with you, I'd say it would be pretty damn hard for me to land the ship."

"Well that thud was what gave it away that it wasn't you."

"Why thank you, I land her light as a butterfly." He smiled like no other.

Zoe thought about it. "Maybe I imagined it then, I was a little distracted", she smiled wryly and leant over her man, fingers dancing lazy circles on his chest. "Remember what we were talking about back at the bordello?"

"Me being the funny one?"

"No dear, about the pitter patter of tiny feet." Zoe gazed lovingly at her husband, falling deep into his big blue eyes. She could drown there if there wasn't a big bad world outside that demanded her attention. She needed this man, needed his silliness, and his smarts, his quirks and his strength. No one in the Verse could fly a ship like him, no one with as much style, and no one made her feel as sexy and loved as she did whenever he so much as looked at her. God, he was perfection and a complete idiot at the same time. His heart was strong but he was a pacifist, and she was soldier and scavenger yet they worked so well… And she needed more. She wanted a baby. She wanted his baby, more than anything else in the world.

_"Bao bay_, you know I wanna have a baby with you—"

She smiled lasciviously at him, "then let's make one." And she captured his lips with her own.

He rolled them over so he was looking down on her. Who am I to say no?" Yes, dear." He kissed her breath away. "I love you, woman."

"I know."

* * *

"Patience,_ lao peng yo_! " Mal called cheerily into the sandy desert. He and Jayne stood alone in the Valley below Serenity's vantage, his trademark brown coat rustling in the humid breeze. No one around but the boulders and cacti, but somewhere in the distance was the clicking of hooves signalling Patience's arrival.

"Malcolm Reynolds, just can't get enough 'o me, can ya?" Patience quite literally rode in on her high horse. "And you brought dumbass." She wasn't a young woman, but she was ballsy and had earned the, if not respect then fear of many men who ran the other slums in the Verse. A good shot and a way of commanding a herd like few others in her position did, she often had bands of shooters following her about like puppy dogs, and Mal, for the life of him, couldn't understand how she could demand such respect in such a ridiculous hat.

"Hey!" Mal yelled. "Ain't no one allowed to call Jayne dumbass but me!"

"That's right!" Jayne called indignantly, "wait, no! Ain't no one allowed to call Jayne dumbass period!"

Patience looked him over, "well you do look a bit dim, Son."

"She's got you there." Mal was, for some reason, siding with the enemy.

"I thought we were here to teach her a lesson, not me." Jayne looked between the two dirtily.

"Two birds, one stone." Mal shrugged.

Patience cocked her head. "And what lesson are you supposed to be teachin' me?" The horse kicked up a cloud of dust that flew up around her, adding to the air of grandeur she believed she had. Patience may have pretty much ruled Whitefall, but the place wasn't exactly a haven. It was a brown dusty wasteland with nothing that could be called civilisation. And horses.

"Well you see Patience, I don't appreciate you puttin' holes in my crew." He paused for a moment, "even if it is only Jayne." He looked up at the woman, studying her, almost. "And I don't like the fact that even after I take out your crew because you wanted to scam me, you're looking to pick another fight. You've got me wonderin', is it a death wish you got or are you just not especially bright?" He smiled winningly at the woman on the horse, until he heard a gun being cocked from behind him.

Patience chuckled. "Now Mal, I'm thinking you're the one missin' a couple of brain cells. Or didn't dumbass tell you? Got myself a knew crew."

"Jayne!" Mal whined and looked up to see himself and Jayne surrounded by gunmen. More were emerging from behind rocks, and men on horses were riding up from the distance. To put it lightly, they were royally screwed.

Jayne looked down, kicking up dust. "Well, I thought you knew…" He muttered, hugging Vera tightly to his chest, with more affection than he'd ever shown a human being. It sure was a pretty gun.

"So you see, Mal, it ain't your crew that's gettin' outta here alive, it's mine." She kicked the flanks of the horse, "be seein' ya. Or not." Patience cackled evilly and began to turn to gallop away, when a single shot flew through the air and straight into her heart. She slid off of the horse and it fled away, leaving behind a circle of gunmen and two very confused men at it's centre. Neither had shot the woman. They glanced at one another in bewilderment for a moment, then heard the whirr of an engine.

"Hey Cap! Need a ride?" Zoe and Wash pulled up alongside them in the Mule. Wash had practically begged Mal to buy the Mule after the destruction of his buggy. It had been destroyed in a rescue mission for the troublesome captain, so Mal had agreed to invest in the hovercraft. Boy was he glad.

"Zoe, am I glad to see you!" Jayne's voice had so much emotion the woman was a little frightened that he'd hug her. That was a terrifying thought.

"Now Zo, don't get me wrong, appreciate the rescuin'" the Captain said as he and Jayne climbed aboard the Mule, glancing at the men drawing and cocking their guns from every angle, "but maybe it would've been better to shoot Patience after you rescued us."

Wash pulled out of the circle, trying his best to dodge the bullets.

"With respect Sir, I didn't—"

Jayne huffed, very much wanting to stay alive, "Wash, you wanna make like the wind and blow this crap ditch moon before we all end up partly transparent!" He turned and began shooting everything in sight, leaving in his wake the bodies of men and horses alike. "Woohoo! Eat lead Bitches!"

"Sure thing." Wash pulled the 'craft up, slammed down on the accelerator and let the Mule soar, "come on baby, let's fly!"

Mal looked over the people in the Mule. "How'd you know where to find us?" He ducked down, dodging a bullet to the skull and firing right back, taking down a big fella, shooting him right off of his horse. Hell yeah.

The Washburnes looked at one another, then at the Captain, then spoke in unison, tone partly embarrassed, "The Shepherd."

"Would've been here too if the Mule ran with five," Zoe continued before lodging a bullet between a gunslinger's eyes.

"Right then. But who shot—"

From the roof of Serenity, River Tam lowered the gun. "Bang." She gracefully back-flipped off of the roof and onto the grate, landing with feet in third, then she slowly stepped inside, climbing the steps and moving away from the Mule as it glided inside the ship. She smiled at Mal, who caught her eye as she wandered back to her bunk. "I pulled it first."

The four crew members climbed out of the Mule.

"Well weren't that fun! I just wish I was the one who topped Patience. Not that I don't 'ppreciate you saving our asses, Zo." Jayne kissed Vera after wiping his beloved firearm clean on his shirt.

Mal, who was stood behind him, put his fingers to his lips as Zoe opened her mouth to protest. If word got out that River was shooting people again, Jayne would go berserk, he was already creeped out by the girl and she had already tried to kill him. Who's to say Jayne wouldn't be her next target? Not that Mal was worried. Well, no more than usual.

"You're welcome." Zoe smiled at Jayne as Mal mouthed a "thank you" to her.

"But honey, you didn't—"

"Wash!" Mal exclaimed, arms open. He patted his pilot on the back in a bid to distract him. "You wanna do something for me?" Mal was struggling to think of the next thing to say, then it came to him. "I want you to get behind the wheel and fly off. Take us where the stars take you. Fly, Wash."

"Are you being serious? That's… Shiny, thanks Mal" Wash looked confused, but happy. He kissed Zoe passionately, then practically ran to the cockpit. "Sit tight, guys. We've got a 'Verse to see."

"Well don't think this is gonna be a regular occurrence, Wash. One time gift, got that?" Mal called after the Pilot, but he was long gone.

Inara looked down from the balcony as Wash skipped off to take Serenity travelling, and she smiled. So the Captain wasn't all bad. And it wasn't often he and Wash got bonding, usually they just bickered over Zoe, so it was nice to see them getting along. She turned to move back to her shuttle as Zoe followed her husband out of the cargo bay, but as she did, Mal caught her eye and jerked his head in the direction of her beloved quarters. She shook her head and flounced off, well aware that the Captain was following close behind. The man loved to intrude.

As she entered the shuttle and sat on her bed, she feigned surprise when Mal entered. "Mal! Whatever are you doing here?"

"Oh, just visiting my favourite Companion on board!" Flattery. Not the Captain's strong suit.

She rolled her eyes. He was a massive child. Then she remembered that she actually had something nice to say to him. "That was an uncharacteristically nice thing you did for Wash. What did Patience do, beat you over the head?" Inara moved to stand beside the Captain. He wasn't going to leave the shuttle, she might as well humour him.

"She didn't do anything at all, 'cept make me think my clock was up. Look, Serenity's my ship, but to my crew she's home. A man's home should bring him a little happiness, is all." He shrugged.

"Well look at you being nice." She smiled winningly at him, eyes betraying her scepticism, "it's almost enough to make me believe you're not a heartless fool."

"Why thank you", he bowed slightly. "Now, about our little chat."

The Companion's eyes took on bewilderment, "what chat?"

"About you not being on the Ship with River and Simon."

Inara laughed slightly, "Mal, we never spoke about that." This would teach him to try and control her life.

Was she trying to confuse him? Because it was working. "We did too!" he said with a little too much fervour. "I remember because I called you a who—" Mal's eyes widened in panic, "ho-holy son of a gun, is that an asteroid?" He pointed in the general direction of the windscreen.

"Nice save, Captain." She turned her back to him, as if to say 'end of conversation' and lay down gracefully on her bed, her arm supporting her head as she looked smoulderingly at Mal. Then she smiled dangerously. "Now if you don't mind, I would like some alone time in my shuttle."

"I do mind! It's not your shuttle." His arms folded across his puffed-out chest, eyes narrowed with a smirk, checkmate.

"No I just rent it." Inara looked down forlornly, her finger dancing circles on a familiar silken cushion. Then, looking up at him through her thick, curled eyelashes, acting demure, "but since I'm up to date on my payments… Leave, Mal."

"But—"

The stupid foofy cushion collided with his head. "Leave, Mal."

"G'night Inara." He bowed again and evacuated the shuttle.

As the door slid shut behind him, Inara exhaled, flopping back exhaustedly on her bed. He was awfully exasperating, but that was the Mal that she...loved. And she did love him. He was an immature idiot, but he had a heart of gold and would do anything for the people he cared about, even lay down his life, even abdicate control of his precious Ship—even if it was only for a day— and she could follow him to the end of the 'Verse. Yeah, most days, when he wasn't being a hard hearted asshole. And that was why she wasn't sure if it was enough to make her stay.

Inara wasn't sure if she could take one more of his insults, his moronic schemes that put her, him and everyone else in danger. She wasn't sure if she could take him. It was like he had two personalities and though she loved one, the other, who spoke down to her like she was a lowly whore, the one that liked being lost in the woods and dragging other people in with him, she wasn't overly fond of. Kaylee would never forgive her if she left and took all of her fancy, pretty, worldly goods with her; Zoe needed another person who could tell the Captain when he was being an idiot and he would listen to—Jayne often told Mal he was being stupid, but he was Jayne—The Shepherd needed someone that understood spirituality; Wash needed another pacifist on a ship full of shooters, Jayne needed something to ogle at, Simon needed someone who was from the civilised world, and River—River just needed a mother figure. Could she leave all of that behind, just because her heart and life were in danger?

Could she leave her family all alone, lost in the woods?

* * *

Two knocks upon the bunk door. One. Two. The knocks followed by the calling of a name, softly. "River?"

She took a deep breath. "Come in, Simon."

He came in, smiling, "oh, we're speaking again then? Or would you rather I go get the Captain so he can translate?" He sat down softly beside her on the bed, still smiling, trying to mask the hurt he felt.

She looked gently at her brother, a small smile on her lips. Then calmly, she spoke, "I'm sorry, Simon, but you would made me stop. I'm dangerous, I asked Mal to let me leave the ship—"

"River!" Simon's voice hit decibels far too high to be comfortable, "No."

She laughed softly, "Shh Simon," she soothed the brother who was all too often soothing her, "it's okay. I was trying to save you all from them. The stars will fall and burn everything up. But now I know." She found his eyes, "my family won't turn on me, even if I am a monster." She smiled at her brother again, then took his hands in hers and pressed her forehead against his, mirroring his actions from earlier in the day. Dark hair merging together, pale skin against pale skin, the siblings had always looked alike, but right then they seemed almost like the same being split in two halves. "Do you know where we are, Simon?" River whispered to her brother.

His brow creased, "_xiao mei-mei_, you know where we are. We're on Serenity, and outside is, oh, how did Mal put it?" He paused, smiling in remembrance, "right, 'the corner of no and where'" He chuckled softly.

"No, silly." River pulled her hand apart from his and swatted him on the head.

"Ow?"

She turned her head and looked deeply into somewhere only she could see. "We're home."


End file.
